AWS SES vs SendGrid

Two transactional email providers, compared on price, features and ratings, so you can pick fast.

AWS SES wins price and reviewsSendGrid wins developer experience and sending APIs

Updated July 2026

AT A GLANCEJuly 2026
AWS SESSENDGRID
Entry price$0.10$14.95
Cost per 1k @ 100k$0.1$0.35
Free tier3,000/mo (1st yr)Trial
G2 rating4.24.0

THE VERDICT

AWS SES wins on price and reviews. SendGrid wins on developer experience and sending APIs.

AWS SES starts at $0.10 versus SendGrid's $14.95. AWS SES rates higher with developers (4.2 vs 4.0 on G2). Pick based on volume and team, and the scorecard below breaks down where each one leads.

Which should you choose?

Pick AWS SES

✓It is suitable for developers on the AWS ecosystem who want to integrate a mailing system into their software.
✓It is suitable for firms or brands to send bulk transactional emails.
✓It is an excellent tool for email marketing.
Set up AWS SES with Courier →

Pick SendGrid

✓It's great for brands and firms that want to get emails across in ample time.
✓It is an affordable option if you send out newsletters but do not intend to profit from them.
✓It is a great option if you're building software and need a reliable email service.
Set up SendGrid with Courier →

Feature by feature

Winner cells are tinted, green where AWS SES leads, violet where SendGrid does.

capability
AWS SES
SendGrid
Starting paid plan
$0/mo
$19.95/mo
Cost per 1k @ 100k
$0.1
$0.35
Pricing model
Pay-as-you-go
Subscription
Overage
$0.10 per 1,000 emails (flat Pay-as-you-go)
upgrade tier / per-block overage
Dedicated IP
Add-on
Plan-gated
Deliverability tooling
Yes
Yes
Automated IP warmup
Yes
Yes
Suppression management
Yes
Yes
SPF / DKIM / DMARC
Yes
Yes
BIMI
Yes
Yes
Transactional API
Yes
Yes
Marketing campaigns
No
Yes
SMTP relay
Yes
Yes
Inbound routing
Yes
Yes
Dynamic templates
Yes
Yes
Batch send
Yes
Yes
Scheduled send
—
Yes
Official SDKs
Java, Python, JavaScript/Node.js, .NET, Ruby, Go, PHP, C++
Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go, Java, C#
Event webhooks
Yes
Yes
Drag-and-drop editor
No
Yes
Custom HTML editor
Yes
Yes
Email validation
Add-on
Plan-gated
Log retention
—
3 days default; 30 days add-on
Sandbox / test mode
Yes
Yes
Open / click tracking
Yes
Yes
Analytics dashboard
Yes
Yes
A/B testing
No
Yes
EU data residency
Yes
Yes
SOC 2
Yes
Yes
HIPAA
BAA
No
GDPR
Yes
Yes
ISO 27001
Yes
Yes
Support channels
Email, Chat, Phone (via AWS Support plans)
Email/Ticket, Chat, Phone
24/7 support
Yes
Yes
Support SLA
Plan-gated
Plan-gated
Migration assistance
—
Yes

FAQ

Common questions

AWS SES starts at $0.10 versus SendGrid's $14.95. Because pricing models differ by tier, the cheaper option depends on your monthly volume, so compare the pricing rows in the scorecard above.

Keep comparing

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Why not both?

Use both behind one API.

Route AWS SES, SendGrid, or both, and switch providers without changing your code. Courier sits in front of every channel.

Start building freeRead the docs

Pricing, plans and feature availability as of July 2026 and may change. Ratings are aggregated from public review platforms. SendGrid is a Twilio product.

Multichannel Notifications Platform for SaaS